I'm not sure if there is any interest in this or not, but I finally decided to post the first chapter of my sequel to How to Catch a Bishounen. I know it's been awhile and I apologize. Sometimes life just gets in the way! Let me know if I should continue and more ideas on future "adventures" would be more than welcome.



Chapter One: The Escapee

It was just another morning at the Bishounen ranch. The sun was shining. Birds were singing. Rabbits were hopping about the grounds eating grass and twitching their cute little noses. And the bishounen were all in the training square for their morning exercise.

She was sitting in a lawn chair, sunglasses on, an umbrella shading Her from the sunlight. Caesar was sitting on Her left-hand side under a smaller umbrella, sipping lemonade and Shu was sitting on Her right side writing in a notebook.

"Here's your ice cold lemonade, Lady." Rico handed Her a tall glass of the drink.

"Thank you," She said pleasantly. "Would you care to take a seat? There's an empty chair next to Caesar here."

"Thank you m'lady, but I have to go clean up breakfast. Eighteen bishounen make quite a mess you know."

"Eighteen," She said wonderingly. "Let's see…Fred, Barts, Borus, Percival, Futch, Nash, Hugo, Watari, Rody, Melville, Jacques, Sasarai, Sgt Joe, Luc, Shu, Albert and Yuber.

That's only seventeen."

"You forgot about me again!" Franz shouted.

She sighed. "Oh yeah. Franz. Eighteen."

"Come on Franz," Futch encouraged, seeing his friend sulking in the corner. "Let's see if you've gotten any better with that spear."

"It's not a spear," Franz said. "It's a…"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever," interrupted Fred, before resolutely putting one in the air. "Evil doesn't care about your weapon. It…" Here, the black knight faltered, losing his train of thought.

She rolled Her eyes and turned back towards Rico. "You know, you could just leave the cleaning to my NPC sla-er..servants."

"Oh no. That's quite all right m'lady," Rico stammered. "I actually enjoy the duty." And with that, Rico scurried off to the kitchen.

"Hm. Imagine that," She muttered, staring after the small attendant. She sighed in relaxation, sat back in Her lawn chair and sipped Her icy lemonade. She was thoroughly enjoying the morning, watching her bishounen spar with each other.

"Ah…Miss?" A random NPC walked up to Her.

She took off her sunglasses and raised her eyebrows. "Yes?"

"Ummmm…It…ah…seems that one of the…uh…residents is missing."

Shu stopped writing and looked at the NPC.

"Missing," She said with a strained voice.

"Uhhh…yes…the resident of room 16."

"Albert!" Caesar jumped out of his chair. "Why didn't the alarms go off!?"

"Well…uh...it seems that the resident…"

"Albert."

"Uhh…yes…Albert…overrode the alarm system in his room."

"How could that be? I designed that system." Caesar started pacing back and forth.

She put her head in her hands.

Shu looked at the red haired strategist. "I believe I did point out a few flaws in the design, but as usual, you ignored me. After all, what do I know? I was merely the prodigy of the world renowned Mathiu Silverberg and the main strategist for the allied army against Highland."

Caesar scowled. "You were expelled from Master Mathiu's school."

"True," Shu smiled smugly. "But that was only because I used my knowledge to further my personal gain. Sound familiar?"

Caesar lunged at the black-haired strategist.

"Do not wrinkle my notebook!" Shu frantically threw the notebook at Her as Caesar tackled him.

They both fell to the ground and a scuffle ensued.

She ignored the strategists. "Yes. That sounds like my Albie."

The scuffle stopped. Shu raised an eyebrow at Her. "Your…Albie?" he queried in amusement.

"Why don't I get a nickname?" Caesar whined.

Shu took advantage of the distracted Caesar and shoved his face into the ground before vaulting up and walking over to stand on the other side of Her chair. She distractedly handed Shu's still mint notebook back to him, causing the strategist to heave a sigh of relief.

"Inform the ninjas at once. They always find him…Although he has been getting better at hiding from them." She turned back to watch the bishounen practice.

"You know where all the others are, right?" Caesar asked, pushing himself up from the ground and spitting dirt out of his mouth.

"Of course," She answered. "I checked on most of them this morning to make sure they were all right. Percival and Borus just entered the ring to spar. Nash is leaning on a wall over there, smirking to himself for some reason or other. Fred, Franz and Futch are sparring on the other end of the ring. Barts is in his run tending to his garden, which looks magnificent by the way. Jacques is no doubt hiding somewhere on the grounds. He's probably watching us from some tree as we speak."

At this, Caesar looked up at the trees suspiciously while dusting himself off.

She continued. "Luc and Sasarai are brooding in their respective rooms. Watari is scouting the grounds, hopefully finding Albert right now. And PsychoLeopard has Yuber."

Shu and Caesar looked up at her.

She shrugged. "I thought he might be a bit hard to keep under control. Plus, Albert would have most likely enlisted his help in escape. And with all these other bishounen to keep track of…Besides I promised him to her…" She shifted uneasily in her chair. "Anyywayyy."

Shu shook his head. "I thought, at my request, that you manacled Albert's hands and feet at night after his last escape attempt."

"I did. Got any new ideas?"

The black haired strategist scowled in thought before beginning to write feverishly in his notebook. Caesar was also scowling, now pacing back and forth and mumbling to himself while making big gestures. Just then, Watari came in to the training ground leading a very wet, very dirty, very sullen Albert Silverberg behind him, his hands and feet both in irons. The other bishounen stopped what they were doing to watch the scene.

Albert looked at Her indignantly. "You can't do this to me. I'm Albert Silverberg, not one of these dogs you can lead around on a leash."

"Who're you calling a dog?" Borus shouted at him.

"Could've fooled me." Caesar smiled smugly. "Well. Look at the bright side. At least your escape plans are consistent. You always fail."

Albert bristled. At least I don't merely except fate as it is handed to me. Silverbergs…All Silverbergs are capable of manipulating their fate. Even you, I suppose," Albert gave Caesar a look of distaste. "Eventually, I will calculate an infallible escape plan. It is…inevitable."

"Really full of yourself aren't you," She replied, not unkindly.

Shu momentarily stopped writing and stared at Albert with some amusement. "Woooow. You actually made it over the wall this time only to fall into the moat. That must have been frustrating."

Albert glared at Shu contemptuously.

"Always contemptuous aren't you?" Shu shook his head. "You really are a one trick pony." And with that, the former outcast directed his full attention back to his notebook.

Albert's mouth fell open.

Caesar snickered.

She held up a hand for silence. "At least he didn't fall off the wall this time." She shuddered.

Albert turned his look of contempt towards Her.

"Albert." She walked over to him. "I don't understand why you are so unhappy here. The other bishounen seem at least reasonably content with their situation…Well, they seem to have accepted it anyway."

"Well let's see," he started sarcastically. "I live in a numbered room attached to my own personal kennel for exercise, on a set schedule, with my meals delivered to me, in a house with a big wall surrounded by a moat to prevent people from getting out."

"Or in," She interrupted.

"Well there is a gate," Shu stated, still writing feverishly.

Albert looked at the other strategist contemptuously, then remembering Shu's comment earlier, quickly altered his expression to a sneer. "I am chained like an animal and told what to do and when to do it. What part of this should I like? You know every square inch of this property. I refuse to believe you couldn't escape from here."

"Oh, I undoubtedly could," Shu shrugged nonchalantly. "But, as you have demonstrated for us all," Shu gestured to include the other bishounen. "that would require a lot of effort and pain." "As it is, I am quite…content here. She treats me like royalty and not only am I allowed to act as Her strategist…"

"One of Her strategists," Caesar interrupted.

Shu shot an amused look in Caesar's direction. "As one of Her strategists then, but I am also allowed to act as her in-house trader to aid Her in obtaining supplies. I see no reason to try to escape…"

Albert opened his mouth to argue but Shu continued on.

"Actually, at my suggestion, everyone else here was granted a reasonable degree of freedom. Sure, at first some of them were kept locked in their rooms most of the time. But even then, they each had their own bathroom, feather bed and ten by twenty foot run to exercise in. Now, they're pretty much free to roam the grounds as they please and She moved each of them into larger quarters and custom-designed each of their rooms to help keep them happy." Shu smiled. "You should see Borus's room. It's particularly amusing. At Lady Chris's request, Borus and Percival are even permitted to go to the castle twice a week for a check-up. So you see…" Shu stared up at Albert. "you're the one responsible for the poor living conditions She is forced to keep you in. You really didn't calculate this out well at all. And you call yourself a Silverberg." And with that, Shu, once again, went back to his notebook.

Albert recoiled from the other strategist as if he had been struck.

Caesar smirked.

The other bishounen looked on silently, slowly backing up to the opposite end of the arena.

Albert was obviously shaken over the criticism. "Didn't…calculate…?" His voice took almost a piteous tone.

"Watari, the leash please." She held out her hand and glanced at Shu. "If you're done shredding his confidence into teeny tiny little pieces, I'm going to pick them back up so I can reshape and reassemble them."

Shu grunted and directed a non-committal wave at Her.

She looked at Albert and sighed, uncertain as to what She was going to do with him. "Oh, I'll be sure to include a bonus with your next…hmmm." She turned back towards where the ninja had been standing only to find he had already disappeared.

She shrugged. "Oh well. One day you will have to explain how you managed to climb that 30 foot wall with both your hands and feet in manacles. And overriding that thousand dollar security system I had installed in your room after the last time…although…" She glanced at Caesar, who was glaring at his elder brother, arms crossed. She sighed. "I really think you need to stop this business of trying to escape or I'm going to have to resort to the shock collar again if Shu doesn't think of anything else. And I don't really want to do that."

Shu stopped writing. "I suggest you move him to the bigger room you designed for him, and give him free rein of the grounds. It is highly unlikely he will escape with the ninjas patrolling. Perhaps one of them could even follow him around."

"Bigger room!?" Caesar started. "But he…"

"Well, that would be a start," replied Albert carefully. "Wait! You have a room designed for me?"

"You can't do that!" Caesar yelled at Her.

"Actually She is in charge here and so technically She can do whatever She wants."

She glanced at Shu, amused, before turning back to Albert. "I actually anticipated your actions and prepared a room for you yesterday afternoon."

Albert paused and looked at Her, eyes widening fractionally. "A…anticipated my…"

Caesar forgot to be angry and instead smiled smugly at his brother's shock.

"Yes. I can always count on you to periodically try to escape, and according to my calculations…" She pulled out a notebook of her own.

Shu looked at Her curiously.

"You were scheduled for an escape attempt tonight…" She shrugged. "So I was off a day. That's why I have Sh…uh…other strategists," She finished, smiling wryly in Caesar's direction.

Albert vainly attempted to regain his composure. "Silverbergs are NOT predictable," he insisted, struggling to keep his voice monotone. "With a few exceptions," he amended, casting a disdainful look in Caesar's direction.

Caesar stuck out his tongue at his elder brother.

She fingered Her chin thoughtfully. "The question is, are you going to stop your attempts to escape, now that I've brought your attention to the predictability of it to prove that you're unpredictable, or are you going to think that's the predictable course of action and continue your escape attempts?" She paused, considering the possibilities. "Perhaps you will actually listen to Shu, unlike your younger brother and are actually going to behave."

"That is extremely unlikely," Shu commented and paged through his notebook. "In fact the odds are…here we are…10,385,462:1."

Albert ignored Mathiu's former student and looked at Her in shock. "Tell me you didn't just compare me to him?" He nodded his head towards Caesar.

"Hmmm." She smiled in amusement. "You actually seem shocked. How…interesting." Her eyes lit up. "And yes. I did."

Albert visibly struggled to retain his composure. "This is fun for you," he commented suddenly.

"Of course it is." She smiled. "Now, can I trust you to take a bath without the manacles or do I have to send Nash with you to scrub your back again?"

"Oh please no," gasped Nash. "Albert…"

Albert sighed. "I won't try to escape while taking a bath," he promised sullenly.

Shu stopped gazing into his notebook and joined Her in glaring at suspiciously at Albert. She glanced at Shu who shrugged and decided to take him at his word. Still looking slightly distrustful, She slowly took out Her keys to unlock the manacles.

"Hmmm…Perhaps the master strategist cannot devise a way to exist here peacefully," Shu mocked.

Albert tensed. Suddenly, She frowned and reached towards his scarf.

"What are you doing!" Albert reflexively shied away.

"Oh! Stand still! I'm not going to hurt you…There." She straightened the redhead's scarf and gazed at him proudly. "Well," She wrinkled Her nose. "you still need a bath."

He glanced down at it at, then back at Her, puzzled.

"Ooh. Puzzlement!" She snapped a picture. "What a rare expression coming from you."

Albert blinked, momentarily blinded by the camera.

"What was that?" he asked bewilderedly, still blinking.

"Oh, never mind. Come on." She reached around his neck and took off his leash.

He tried to take a step forward but the strain of the attempted escape and temporary blindness proved to be too much for him and his legs buckled. She caught him by the arm. The other bishounen chuckled with mirth. She turned around glaring and all fell silent. She turned back indignantly. Albert put his arm around her shoulders, tried to assume a pitiful expression, and allowed Her to help him hobble up to the baths.

"Hey! Why does he get special treatment?" Caesar yelled indignantly, running after them waving his arms. "I never tried to escape from here or question you or insult you in any way!"

"Do you think she would think me more bishounen if I tried to escape?" Franz asked, plaintively.

The other bishounen simultaneously turned their heads in his direction, and then continued on with their morning sparring practice.

"Game. Match. Point." Shu smiled smugly.